Rose Gardens
by Nelizzy
Summary: Ichigo has cried many times to him, often frustrated tears over Kashino being a bit too pushy in the kitchen during practices, but this time is different. This time, she's silent, and he only knows she's crying when he moves to wipe the tears away. Hanabusa x Ichigo!


A pair that I don't see that often, so I thought I'd try my hand at it. A bit dark, I apologize. Enjoy!

* * *

Hanabusa Satsuki was many things, but Ichigo's lover was not one of them. Still, he had to admit, having her in his arms felt so _right _and by god if he didn't envy Kashino every day for stealing her away from them.

As much as he yearned to enjoy the moment and to relax into their embrace, there was no time for that. Ichigo was _crying_. Not just small tears of frustration, as she often did when Kashino was a bit too pushy at practice that day, but rather, it was silent sobbing.

It was scary, to hold such a cheerful girl as her body shook from the withheld noises of pain.

"Ichigo-chan. C'mon, Ichigo, look at me."

He almost wished he hadn't asked her to, as her wide eyes stared at him in desperate search for understanding. One hand slid away from her back to gently brush away the track of tears, his other continuing to rub circles into her shirt.

"Kashino's an idiot," he declared, eyes soft with pity.

The small laugh was worth it, though the joy was short-lived as her memories seemed to consume her once more. There was little he could do for the overwhelmed beauty as she curled right back into a ball, determined to cry her heart out.

They stayed like that for a long time, her tight in his embrace, undisturbed. Once Ichigo had started to come up from her dump, he dared to peel away a bit and catch his Sweets Spirit's eye.

"Café-kun, why don't you fetch some coffee for this princess?"

When the small fairy flew away to do as he asked, Ichigo started to speak. It was incoherent to him, who couldn't pick up her soft mutterings.

"Ichigo-chan, you're going to have to speak up a bit."

The muttering continued. Hands firmly pressed to her shoulders, he gently pushed her face away from his chest so he could look her in the eyes.

"I'm here to listen to you, princess." He smiled at her. "Remember? Forever and always."

She smiled back, tentative. "Right, forever and always."

The small twinkle in her eyes seemed to return, and the green-haired boy could feel relief sink into his bones. That was, of course, until her mousy voice finally picked up enough for him to hear what she had been saying all along.

"He hit me."

Suddenly, any feelings of positivity that had been blossoming disappeared. His bones felt cold.

"He did what?" he asked, too shocked to be angry.

She looked down. "He hadn't slept enough, and, well, he was probably stressed, so it was my fault for provoking him! I—!"

"What did he _do_?" he asked again as realization started to settle in.

The shame on her face made him want to pick her up and hide her away from everything, to protect her from evil and make her feel better. She looked so _upset_. He wanted to throw something. His princess was upset and he was causing it.

But before he could take back his question, she answered him. "He hit me."

"Kashino-kun did?"

He felt the urge to crush that blond between his hands rise inside of him. At the distressed look Ichigo shot him, he managed to quell the desire.

"It was my fault," she explained. "I – he was practicing a new recipe and I _ruined _it after he stayed up all night to perfect it, and, he was just so mad."

"Ichigo-chan, you don't have to explain if you don't want to." He didn't want to see her cry like that.

She didn't stop now, too deep into her rambling to stop. "And then he was _yelling_ and I thought it was just a cake, so I yelled right back because you can make those things again! And then he hit me."

"Ichigo, I," he couldn't find the words. The words were there in his heart to comfort her, but his lips refused to part enough to say them.

"I shouldn't have provoked him." She looked down-right awful.

He started seeing it – the slight red ring around her eye, the swelling… How had he not noticed it earlier? Had he really been so distracted at the thought of Ichigo coming to him again?

"Don't say that." How could he have been so blind?

She jumped at his voice.

"Don't you _ever_ say that, Ichigo-chan." He focused hard on controlling himself as he gathered every bit of her into his arms and tucked her right back into him. "It's never your fault. _Never_. Don't ever say that; don't ever believe that, because it's _not your fault_."

She wasn't crying, but she was silent. It worried him.

"Do you understand, Ichigo-chan?"

She peeled away from him and smiled, gentle and comforting. It made him feel better about the situation, until he realized just what was happening.

As always, Ichigo was drawing the pain into herself. She was _always_everybody else's saviour, keeping them from falling too far into the darkness. She was innocent and sweet, and all she ever wanted was to make everybody else smile, but right now, she needed somebody for herself.

She needed somebody to make her smile.

"Ichigo-chan, want to come with me to the rose garden?"

It took a while, but she nodded and let herself be brought along. They walked together through the walls, her hand carefully entangled with his. There were few left in the halls, it being a later afternoon of the weekend. Most were in the dining hall or already retired to their rooms. The few stragglers that were still up and about knew better than to look after receiving a harsh glare from him.

Café found them as they strolled, carefully balancing the cup of coffee and keeping it warm with his Sweets Magic. As soon as they were in the comforting environment of the flowers, Ichigo took the ceramic cup from him and had a sip.

"Good as always, Café-kun," she said.

Her false cheeriness made him frown. Once he had thanked her, Café flew off to wherever he wished, most likely to search for Ichigo's partner and inform Vanilla that it would be okay.

They wandered around, stopping when Ichigo wanted to stop and simply letting the scent of all the roses wash over them.

"Was it just the face?"

She shook her head.

"Will you tell me?"

She paused, looking for words before looking away and taking another sip.

He smiled softly at her and decided to accept her response.

"He pinned me down."

His footsteps stilled.

"And he was… _aggressive_."

He tried to calm himself, trying to rid his face of the ugly sneer that was emerging from his thoughts.

"It was when, when I screamed that he suddenly got off and ran."

It _hurt_ to not go find Kashino and get an explanation, but he had to refrain himself. He spun, stalked towards her and knelt down in front of her.

With care, he gently pried one of her hands away from the coffee. He held it between his own, trying to ease her nerves away. Rage bubbled beneath the surface, but it was important that he stayed calm until she felt better. _He wouldn't leave her until she stopped shaking_, he promised himself.

"Hanabusa-kun?" he looked up, into her wide, brown eyes. "It's okay. I'm okay."

Obviously not, he thought to himself. Still, he smiled back at her and removed his hands, rising to his feet so he could gently pat her on the head.

"You're very strong aren't you, Ichigo-chan?"

She did not respond.

It was getting dark by the time he thought she was calm enough to be on her own. They had begun to speak of lighter topics, like about the recipes she'd been practicing from her grandmother's notebook, or of him with his new rose-cake experiments.

They were outside the girl's dormitory, her coffee finished and their fingers gently linked together still.

"Goodnight, Ichigo-chan."

She looked at him, a strange look in her eyes, before she leaned in a pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek. "Thanks, Hanabusa-kun." Then she was gone, jogging into the building.

A flush filled his face as he waited for her to get safely inside before turning and heading to his own dorm. It was simply a friendly gesture, no? That's what she had always called it. The thought made him ache, but he stopped himself from overcomplicating the action.

He had more important things to focus on.

Like how he'd beat up Kashino the instant he laid eyes on that bastard.

* * *

Should I follow this up with what happens between him and Kashino?


End file.
